I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Stanmore. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Stanmore do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Stanmore.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a leasehold flat in Stanmore. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Stanmore who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Stanmore conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Stanmore where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Stanmore conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £175000 garden flat in Stanmore on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Stanmore?

Stanmore conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Stanmore conveyancing firm to help?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Stanmore premises is 27B Hillside in February 2010. the resulting premium, all other aspects of the valuation having been agreed between the parties was set at £8,250 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 70.25 years.

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Lease Extensions in Stanmore